PREPARING EVERY NURSE: A MULTIMODAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE ON CELLULAR IMMUNOTHERAPY TOXICITIES.
Significance & Background: Cellular immunotherapies, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), and bispecific antibodies, are rapidly expanding treatment options for patients with cancer. These therapies carry unique and potentially life-threatening to...
| Published in: | Oncology Nursing Forum Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 32 - 34 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Oncology Nursing Society
Mar2026
|
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194211122&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 194211122 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 0190535X 4F0 jtl: Oncology Nursing Forum issn: 0190535X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 53 iid: 2 pid: 12496 pub: Oncology Nursing Society place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania artinfo: ui: 194211122 10.1188/26.ONF.e26535272 194211122 ppf: 32 ppct: 2 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: PREPARING EVERY NURSE: A MULTIMODAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE ON CELLULAR IMMUNOTHERAPY TOXICITIES. aug: au: Stewart, Kendra Houser, Whitney Bennett, Emily Tawakelevu, Brenda affil: BSN, RN, OCN, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, UT sug: ab: Significance & Background: Cellular immunotherapies, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), and bispecific antibodies, are rapidly expanding treatment options for patients with cancer. These therapies carry unique and potentially life-threatening toxicities, most notably cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Because patients may present with acute and delayed side effects across both inpatient and outpatient settings, it is imperative that all nurses are prepared to recognize symptoms promptly and implement evidence-based management using institutional algorithms. Purpose: To ensure that all inpatient and outpatient nurses at our institution are educated on the recognition and management of CRS and ICANS, thereby improving patient safety and outcomes. Interventions: A two-part educational initiative was implemented. First, online learning modules were developed covering the mechanisms, indications, and side effects of CAR-T, TIL, and bispecific therapies. Completion was required for every inpatient and outpatient nurse. Second, during the hospital's mandatory skills day, a dedicated station required each nurse to apply knowledge by working through a case study on CRS and ICANS. Nurses utilized institutional algorithms to identify symptoms, assign toxicity grading, and select appropriate interventions. Results: Knowledge was assessed through performance during the case study exercise. Completion rates of case study by inpatient and outpatient nurses were 100%, with correct answers exceeding 94% across all practice settings. Informal feedback and immediate remediation indicated increased confidence among nurses in recognizing and managing immunotherapy-related toxicities. Discussion: This initiative demonstrated that scalable, multimodal education can effectively prepare nurses in a range of practice areas to care for patients receiving cellular immunotherapies. By combining foundational online modules with interactive case-based learning, nurses gained both knowledge and application skills. Institutional readiness for managing CRS and ICANS was significantly strengthened, and nurses expressed improved comfort and confidence in responding to these emergent toxicities. Moving forward, inpatient and outpatient nurses will be receiving annual updated online modules and will continue to go to a dedicated station for cellular immunotherapy to maintain knowledge and skills. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|